Congratulations! You made it! You survived and excelled in your student teaching. You are now a science teacher! If you would, take a few minutes to share your wisdom about how to negotiate this difficult year with the students who are following in your footsteps by answering the following questions.
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
When you go to your placement in the fall, do not do what you may have done in 415 or 430 and just sit back and watch. You wont learn much. try to get your CT's lessons and try and teach one or two yourself, it will be a bit harder than it looks. Watch your teacher the first time and teach the second. You really need to actually try it before you will really know how to plan it. Also, find out what you will be teaching before winter break. You don't need to make lesson plans, but gather as many resources, worksheets, readings, etc. It was a real pain trying to find everything in crunch time.
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
Unit plan assignment. I must have looked back at my own unit plan as well as others 1000 times. If you do it well your class mates do it well you may have very little to plan. (It's all posted up on the wiki so why not use it?)
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had ...."
Again collecting materials. I really didn't realize how annoying and time consuming making a simple punnett square worksheet could be. Even if you make one once a week, you will be so happy when it's time to use it. Also read as much as you can about your topics. It stinks when you walk in half way through a topic in a class of honors students and they know more then you do becuase you haven't thought about evolution since BIO 101.
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?
Give someone detention after a week, in the nicest most resonable way you can because they need to believe you can do it. If it is classroom managment your worried about, you wont have to after being the jerk. Personally, I am always very lienant, Its just my personality but as they slowly make their way back to talkers I give one more detention and boom no more disuptions for weeks. (This is a middle school strategy I used. Detentions were lunch detentions eating lunch with me and it took no extra time off me or a administrator, so everyone but the student is happy.
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
When you go to your placement in the fall, do not do what you may have done in 415 or 430 and just sit back and watch. You wont learn much. try to get your CT's lessons and try and teach one or two yourself, it will be a bit harder than it looks. Watch your teacher the first time and teach the second. You really need to actually try it before you will really know how to plan it. Also, find out what you will be teaching before winter break. You don't need to make lesson plans, but gather as many resources, worksheets, readings, etc. It was a real pain trying to find everything in crunch time.
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
Unit plan assignment. I must have looked back at my own unit plan as well as others 1000 times. If you do it well your class mates do it well you may have very little to plan. (It's all posted up on the wiki so why not use it?)
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had ...."
Again collecting materials. I really didn't realize how annoying and time consuming making a simple punnett square worksheet could be. Even if you make one once a week, you will be so happy when it's time to use it. Also read as much as you can about your topics. It stinks when you walk in half way through a topic in a class of honors students and they know more then you do becuase you haven't thought about evolution since BIO 101.
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?
Give someone detention after a week, in the nicest most resonable way you can because they need to believe you can do it. If it is classroom managment your worried about, you wont have to after being the jerk. Personally, I am always very lienant, Its just my personality but as they slowly make their way back to talkers I give one more detention and boom no more disuptions for weeks. (This is a middle school strategy I used. Detentions were lunch detentions eating lunch with me and it took no extra time off me or a administrator, so everyone but the student is happy.